One girl's musings on positivity and living a happier life

Spring Again

Spring tends to come later in Vermont than many other places. We just recently cracked 60 degrees on the thermometer and people took to the outdoors almost instantaneously. It was a collective gasp as if we’d been holding our breath all winter. My favorite thing about the change of season is the optimism that comes hand in hand with spring. We’ve made it through the coldest, shortest and darkest days and now we bloom.

Spring makes it easier to write. I feel like I’ve been corked for the majority of the winter but I’ve now broken free. it’s hard to feel short of inspiration when you are sitting in the grass watching so many lives go on around you, from new daffodils in the center of campus that seem to have sprung up overnight, to the people tossing frisbees languidly and accidentally hitting people lounging in the grass nearby (I watched this happen more than once in the same 15-minute disc golf game).

There are so many things that I want to do this summer. It’s hard to imagine how I will possibly make time for my limitless ideas and goals. I never follow through with actually getting to all of them in the three short months that go by like a week, or a snap of your fingers. There are just so many places to eat, drink, explore, in my own small community and it’s taken me almost 4 years to notice. One of my goals this summer is to become a local patron at the coffee shop near my apartment. I’ve always romanticized the idea of walking into somewhere and having someone know my order, know me.

I took this picture in the rain on my way home from class, and my favorite thing about it is the fact that the rain doesn’t even register through the lens. I hadn’t stopped to notice how beautiful the little flowers sprouting up around my apartment were in my perpetual running of errands or to the library or to work.

For the first time in my life I will have an adult 9-5 job this summer. After this semester though, I’m definitely ready to commit more of my free time to creating. I got these children’s watercolors on Amazon for 12 dollars and have made a habit of just putting the colors down on paper for a few minutes before I go to bed. I love mixing the paints and watching them seep across the pages in a wash of color.There is something so contemplative of just watching things flow without an end goal or specifics requirements.

Since moving to Vermont, my spring playlists usually revolve around folky, Americana type music. I’d like to be able to write more succinctly and engagingly about music. Any time I try writing about it, it comes off clumsy and awkward. I’m working on that, but in the meantime, I’ll just leave a list of songs that I’ve been listening to since eaMarcharch.

What is your favorite part about spring? And how do you like to be creative? Let me know!